Two Minds Swapped
by TheReaderWithAScarf
Summary: The Doctor and Rory were browsing some interesting machines on the TARDIS, and they find one that accidently switches the Doctor's mind with none other than Sherlock Holmes's. Can they switch their minds back? Or are they stuck like this indefinably?
1. Chapter 1

**Two Minds Swapped**

"Come on, come on! Don't dilly-dally! Ooh, that's a nice word! And it's fun to say! Dilly-dally, dilly-dally, dilly-dally, dilly-"

Rory couldn't help but groan at how annoying The Doctor was being as they walked down the TARDIS corridor. "Doctor, where are you taking me and why?"

The giddy Time Lord smiled in spite of his companion's frustration. "Well, Rory, I'll tell you. You see, I've noticed that for some reason, you aren't having that much fun on our adventures then I would think, and you're a bit… what's the word… irritable! You're a tad irritable with me."

"Well, that's because we can't all be the optimistic, two-hearts-of-gold, very energetic, childish, and sometimes really, really, annoying Time Lord you are," Rory, responded.

"You see? That's the problem," The Doctor said, tapping his companion's nose with a finger, much to the human's chagrin. "Now, as you know, Amy's away on her intergalactic vacation, so we have a bit of time for ourselves to bond! Doctor-and-Rory bonding day! Yahoo!"

"Hooray…" Rory responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"That's the spirit! So, I've decided that for today, it'll just be a nice, relaxing day in a special room in the TARDIS. Ooh! Here we are!"

The two stopped outside a door that looked like all the other ones in the long corridor. The Doctor pushed it open and walked inside the room, with Rory following behind.

"Behold, Rory Pond, the machine room!"

Rory looked around the large room, which had machines, gadgets, and other mechanical devices littering the many tables within it. The machines were of all shapes and sizes, all colors and styles, and Rory didn't have the faintest idea of what any of them did.

"… Okay, so what's so special about this room?"

The Doctor continued smiling joyfully as he looked at each table. "What's so special about it? Whenever I find a cool or fun gadget to play with, I put it in here! Let's look around."

And before Rory could say another word, the Time Lord was skipping about the room like a kid in a candy store. He rolled his eyes and followed him, wanting to get this over with soon. He stopped at the table The Doctor was at, and stared at the small, blue pyramid in his hands.

"What's that?"

"This one's a personal favorite of mine. If you touch the pyramid, then the next person who holds it will see things from your point of view for a few precious seconds. I'll demonstrate."

The Doctor took one of Rory's hands and put the pyramid in it. A second passed, and suddenly Rory's bored look turned into a look of excitement and eager anticipation as he suddenly whipped his head back and forth to try and see every individual item in the room.

"Wow, look at all the things in here! There's so much we could do, and will do! Hey, that one looks cool; let's check it out! It might do something amazing!"

Rory did a jovial hop in the air before his old disposition came back to him. He shook his head, as if to clear it.

"… Wow, that felt… wow, that's what it's like inside your head?"

"Yep." The Doctor giggled a bit. "You know, I like you better when you're thinking like me."

Rory rolled his eyes. "Whatever, let's move on."

He waited until The Doctor walked over to the next table before slipping the pyramid into his pocket for later investigation.

Once he stopped at The Doctor's side, he saw that he held a laser pointer in his hand.

"Wow, impressive laser pointer, Doctor. Thrilling."

"Actually, Captain Sarcasm, this is a _real _laser pointer. I'll show you."

With a sly grin, The Doctor aimed the little laser pointer at the wall and pressed the button on it. A red laser beam came out from it and scorched a section of the unfortunate wall.

"What do you think of that, eh?"

The Time Lord turned to his companion to find that he was incredibly shocked at the laser pointer's power.

"W-wow, that's cool. Where'd you get that, anyway?"

"Ah, that's for me to know and never tell you."

The Doctor set the laser pointer back onto the table and skipped off toward another machine. Rory was just about to follow him again when he spotted a table next to him that had a weird contraption on it that looked like a dark-blue metal Frisbee of some sort. It had a lone button in the middle of it, and didn't look interesting at all. But Rory's curiosity was piqued, and he reached out a hand to press the button.

"… And fly all at the same time! You know, you've never been this quiet," The Doctor concluded, turning to see that Rory wasn't next to him. Once he saw what he was looking at, and about to touch, he reacted immediately.

"No, no, no! DON'T TOUCH THAT!"

Rory quickly pulled his hand away as The Doctor trotted over to him, worriedly.

"Rory, don't just touch everything you see," he scolded, "and especially that!"

"Why, what does it do?"

"This machine," said The Doctor, pointing at the Frisbee-like device, "will randomly select anybody from Earth at any time period and cause a totally unexpected event to happen between you and the person selected."

"Doctor-"

"There's no telling who will be selected or what will happen!"

"Uh… Doc-"

"And I certainly don't want to have to-"

"Doctor, you pressed the button."

The Doctor gave his companion a confused stare before looking at his finger to find out that when he pointed at the machine about eighty words ago, he accidentally pressed the button on it in the progress.

"… Oh. Oops."

Suddenly, The Doctor fell to the floor unconscious, leaving Rory shocked and confused.

"D-Doctor!"

He rushed to the Time Lord's side, worriedly checking him over.

"Doctor!"

~~~~~~Meanwhile, at 221B Baker Street~~~~~~

Sherlock Holmes lay sprawled out on the couch in his flat, dressed in his blue dressing gown. He sighed dramatically, and rolled over onto his side. John Watson walked into the room and noticed Sherlock on the couch.

"Let me guess. Bored?"

"Brilliant deduction, John, how'd you come to that conclusion?"

John rolled his eyes and walked over to one of the large windows to watch the day go by. "I'm kind of bored myself today too. There's nothing to do. But who knows? Maybe something will happen."

Sherlock scoffed and got up off the couch. "Please, John, the realistic chance of something fun happening at this moment is incredibly small."

His partner turned to face him with a shrug. "Well, you never know."

The consulting detective rolled his eyes, took another step forward…. and fell unconscious onto the carpet.

John's eyes widened in shock, and when he finally snapped out of it, he said, "Sometimes I hate being right. Sherlock!"

He rushed over to the detective's side, worriedly checking him over.

"Sherlock!"

A few seconds passed, and suddenly Sherlock's eyes fluttered open. John breathed a sigh of relief, but it was soon replaced by utter confusion from what Sherlock did next.

The detective smiled at John, and said, "Oh, hello. Who are you?"


	2. Chapter 2: Sherlock Who?

"Oh, hello. Who are you?"

John furrowed his brow in confusion at his partner's words. Sherlock did the same.

"Wait, that's definitely not my voice. Testing, testing, one, two, three. Okay, hearing a different voice, that's… interesting."

"What do you mean you-?"

"Wait, if I have different vocal chords, could that mean…? Let's check." Sherlock sat up and looked at his legs. "Legs; still there, but different. Hands." He put his hands in front of his face. "Also different. Interesting. Wait! Bowtie." He put a hand on the part of his neck where a bowtie would be. He gasped when he found only air. "Missing! That confirms it!"

"Sherlock, what the hell are you on about?!"

He turned his head to John, whom he had forgotten about until now, and gave him an apologetic smile. "Oh, hello! Sorry, finding myself in another person's body is very unusual and really distracting." He stood up and looked down at his legs, noticing the distance between him and the ground. "Wow, I'm tall! Look at that!" He returned his gaze to John and held out a hand.

"Hello, I'm The Doctor."

John gave him a blank stare for a few seconds.

"… Sherlock, did you hit your head or something when you fell to the ground?"

Sherlock looked around the room, and saw only him and John. "Um, when you say 'Sherlock', you're addressing myself, correct?"

"Who else would I be talking to?" asked John, quickly growing irritated. "Sherlock, I'm getting a bit worried right now. You're acting really unusual."

"Well, I'm sorry for annoying you, but I told you, I'm not 'Sherlock'. My name's The Doctor, and I leapt into your friend's, I'm assuming he's your friend, body-"

He gasped. "That reminds me. I have to see how I look."

"What-?!"

But before John could get a word in, Sherlock was off to a mirror that hung on the wall at the other side of the room. He gazed at his new reflection in surprise.

"Wow, look at this!" He ruffled his chocolate brown curls with his hand. "Look at my hair; that's just brilliant!" Next, he rubbed his cheekbones, while John simply stared incredulously. "Blimey, somebody could cut themselves on these. Oh, it's just like regeneration!"

"Sherlock, why are you acting like you've never seen yourself before?"

"I just told you about twenty seconds ago, pay attention!" He went back to looking at his reflection.

John thought back around twenty seconds ago in the conversation and remembered Sherlock's words. "… Wait, wait, you're telling me that you're not Sherlock? You're somebody else that suddenly just jumped into his body?"

"Very good, whoever you are! I'm really compelled to say John Watson," he added under his breath. Sherlock started to hop up and down. "Hmm. The only thing I don't like about this is that I have only one heart. It makes me feel so lethargic compared to my old two hearts."

John smirked as he found a mistake in what he believed was his friend's trick. "Nice try, Sherlock. But I thought you were smart enough to realize that if you were a totally different person, then how could you know my name?"

"It's a good thing this body's fit, because-" Sherlock stopped as he registered the blogger's words. He turned and chuckled. "Wait, your name is _really _John Watson?"

"Well…. Yes. What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just," he giggled a bit, "Sherlock and John Watson. You know, like the books."

John gave him the confused stare he must have used about ten times before. "What books?"

"You know…. Sherlock Holmes! Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. 221B Baker Street." Sherlock scoffed. "You are missing out on great literature. Look it up later."

"Um, I have no idea who Sir Arthur Cono whoever is, and you just said our address. Sherlock, I'm now all the more convinced you hit your head."

Sherlock stopped and thought back a few words ago. "Hold on, say that again."

"Um, I'm now all-?"

"No, no, before that. "

John racked his brain for what he could have meant. "Um… oh, you mean, 'you just said our address'?"

"Bingo!" Sherlock gave a congratulatory smile before it turned into confusion, the emotion that John had been feeling for the past few minutes. "Wait, you mean this flat is 221B Baker Street? And it's not 1895?"

"… Of course it's not 1895, it's 2012! Sherlock, can you _please _just explain what you're doing right now? It's sort of freaking me out."

"I'm really sorry for your confusion, but we'll have to wait until Sherlock, in my body, and my friend arrives, then I can explain everything."

Suddenly, a whooshing, grating noise filled the flat as a slight breeze blew on John and Sherlock. To Sherlock's delight and John's bewilderment, a big blue box started to materialize ten feet away from them. Seeing it made the smile on the Sherlock's face grow even bigger in ecstatic glee.

"Oh look! Here they are now!"


	3. Chapter 3: Doctor Holmes

Rory knelt by The Doctor's side, gently trying to shake him awake.

"Doctor! Doctor, wake up!"

Just as Rory was about to assume the worst, The Doctor's eyes fluttered open. He seemed to look a bit confused at where he was and whom he was with, but Rory was too relieved to notice.

"Oh, Doctor, thank goodness you're up. I was-"

Suddenly, a quick series of events happened that, to Rory, seemed to go by in slow motion. First, The Doctor leapt up from the floor and grabbed Rory's arms. Next, he stood up and pushed him, extremely hard in Rory's opinion, into the wall, pinning him up there with his bare hands. Rory probably could've gotten down if he tried fighting back, but he was too shocked at what had happened to do it. Not just the pinning against the wall thing, but also how The Doctor looked at that moment. His usually calm, joyful eyes were cold, dark, and serious. They looked him over and seemed to examine him bit by bit. The Doctor's expression was anything but whimsical and cheerful like it usually was. Instead it was interrogating, hard, and most of all, _angry. _Rory only had one thought other than surprise and fear running through his mind.

This was _not _The Doctor.

The Time Lord, we shall call him that for now because both people in the room clearly knew he was not The Doctor, started to speak, and in a voice that sounded too monotonous and to-the-point for Rory to be hearing in The Doctor's voice.

"I have questions and you're going to answer them, got it?"

Rory frantically mumbled out something not entirely unlike a 'yes'.

"Where am I, how did I get here, did you do anything to John, how could somebody like _you _have done this, and why am I not talking in my own voice?"

The Time Lord blinked, and suddenly all the unfriendliness and anger drained from his face and was replaced with bewilderment.

"Why am I not…"

He looked down at the arms that were pinning Rory to the wall and saw unusual clothes on arms that were definitely not his.

"… talking in…"

He looked down at his legs and saw the decreased distance between himself and the floor. His expression was made completely out of confusion, like if a computer couldn't calculate the answer to a problem. And had facial expressions. The Time Lord took back his right arm, still using the other one to pin Rory to the wall, and felt his face.

"… my own voice?"

The Time Lord stood there for a beat or two more; eyes wide open in confusion, trying to calculate just what the _hell _was going on, when Rory finally spoke up.

"…Um, c-c-can you let me down now?"

He drew back his left arm and Rory plopped to the ground with an 'Oof!"

The Time Lord looked around and saw a mirror on the table next to him. He reached out, took it in one hand and looked at his reflection. What he saw caused the reasoning circuits in his brain to short-circuit even more. An unfamiliar face, with unrecognizable hair, somebody that was totally not himself.

At this point, Rory had started to piece things together. Once he had gotten to his feet, he looked at the Time Lord and said, "You're not The Doctor, are you?"

He turned to Rory and replied, "Obviously, by 'The Doctor' you mean the person who was in this body before me. No, no I'm not." He spat out the last words as if they were venom and then started frantically pacing up and down.

"No, no, no. I can't say 'in this body before me'. That's impossible. It's science fiction. But there's no other explanation! Dream state? Can't be, this is all too real to be a dream. Make up? No, the height difference disproves that and these facial features are too real as well! Drugged? No, that can't be it either!"

"Um, Doc- whoever you are, I can-"

"There's just no explanation!" The Time Lord flung out his hands in desperation and then took a seat on the ground. "I can't tell how this happening, there's just no scientific or sensible explanation of the facts!"

He buried his face in his hands, sighing dramatically. He didn't notice Rory walk over and sit down next to him. He looked up when Rory put a hand on his back, cast him an understanding look and said,

"How about an _unsensible _explanation?"

The Time Lord's confused glare made him continue.

"Look. If you are indeed a different person in The Doctor's body, then don't focus on trying to solve how it happened. Focus on how to fix it. Push all the problems on how the machine on that table switched your minds into the back of your mind. The problem we have to think about now is how we can switch you guys back."

He got a curious stare as a reply.

"… Do normal people usually think like that?"

"Umm, well, if by normal people, you mean people like me, then yes."

The Time Lord was silent for a moment and Rory was starting to think that he was still trying to solve the situation out when he looked back up with only inquiry in his eyes.

"Done. Wow, that's really relaxing, now I see why normal people do it. " He got to his feet and started looking around the machine room. "Now, this is an interesting place to be."

Rory got back up as well and stared as the Time Lord started to look over some of the gadgets on the table. "… So, that's it? You get a tantrum, you get frustrated, and now you're all right?"

"Yes. Although, I wouldn't exactly say tantrum, more like self-defense. Are you going to give me any answers?"

"… um, I'm sorry?"

The Time Lord put down the small robot he had picked up a few seconds ago and looked back at Rory like if he had missed something obvious. "Earlier, I asked you if you would give me answers to the questions I had, and you said yes. So, answer!"

"Oh, um, well… I think the first question you asked was 'where were you?'"

"Correct, now get to the point." He started to fiddle with what looked like a cross between a pencil and a mechanic centipede.

"Oh, well, you're in the TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It's a time machine and space ship that's bigger on the inside."

The Time Lord stared at Rory like he was mad and started to ask a question before thinking better of it. "I'll get to that later. Next question! How did I get here?"

"Well, that made you switch minds." Rory pointed to the blue Frisbee-like device near them. "The Doctor pressed the button and you were randomly selected by it and it did the thing."

The Time Lord looked at it with questioning eyes, stepping closer to it. "Normal technology can't do that. There's just no way."

"Well, that's because-"

"It's obviously not Earth technology, far from it in fact. It's alien."

"Oh. Correct. Nice guess."

"Child's play."

Rory decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for a while. "If you don't mind me asking, who are you? Like, really?"

The Time Lord held out a hand. "Sherlock Holmes."

Rory took his hand and shook it. "Rory Williams." Then, he did a double-take. "… Wait, wait, hold on a second. Did you say your name was Sherlock Holmes?"

"Yes. And you said yours was Rory Williams."

"No, I mean, like, _the _Sherlock Holmes? As in, the detective?"

The Time Lord frowned. "You read John's blog too? Great, of all the people to get stuck with, I get stuck with a fan?"

"Wait, _blogs_? No, I mean like the books. You know, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Mystery novels?"

"I completely assure you that I don't know what you're talking about." The Time Lord thought for a moment and said, "You know what? Let's save all of our questions for your friend. Because he's an alien and almost a millennia old, he should be able to answer anything we might have to ask."

Rory frowned. "How do you know he's an alien? I didn't tell you that."

"Rory, you told me I was in some sort of space ship, so obviously alien, and the body I'm in now has two hearts, and I'm getting a vague feeling it's not because of a mutation or birth defect. This room is obviously a collection of collected machines on travels he's had, and he couldn't have accumulated this in an average human lifespan, so he's probably less than a millennia old."

"Hmm… Impressive."

"Thank you." The Time Lord stared toward the doorway. "If this is really a space ship, then do you think you could lead me to its control room?"

"Of course, Mr. Holmes."

"Call me Sherlock," he said with a smile.


	4. Chapter 4: The Two Meet! Eventually

Rory and Sherlock (as in, Sherlock in The Doctor's body) walked down the TARDIS corridor toward the control room. Sherlock decided to try and satisfy his curiosity just a little bit.

"So, Mr. Williams-"

"Call me Rory, please," he replied, flashing a friendly grin.

"Alright. So, Rory, can you tell me a bit more about the alien whose body I'm currently occupying?" He frowned. "Ugh, I feel more and more like I'm in a science fiction novel."

"Don't worry, you get used to it." Rory put his hands in the pockets and thought for a moment. "So, tell you about The Doctor? Where to start? Well, first off, he's an alien, which we've already covered, that's called a Time Lord. He's from a planet called Gallifrey, and he ran away while stealing the TARDIS, which is the ship we're in. He's got two hearts, and knows how to fly the ship. Umm… instead of dying, he can regenerate, which means he turns into a completely different person, but I've yet to see it actually happen. His personality is like a twelve-year-old. He's hyper, loves fun, never wants to be bored, can't stand being in a single place for more than five seconds, enjoys the thrill of running away from danger, and is always putting us right in the middle of an adventure. That good?"

"… Sherlock?"

Rory turned to his left and saw that Sherlock was not by his side.

"What the…?"

He looked around and saw Sherlock in a doorway behind him. Well, he saw his body from his neck down to his feet. His head was in the room, looking inside.

"Sherlock, did you listen to anything that I just said?"

"… I can multi-task," was his reply. Sherlock took his head back out of the room and looked at Rory incredulously. "This library has a swimming pool!"

"How about we get to the control room so we can see The Doctor first?" Rory didn't wait for an answer and started off towards the control room.

Sherlock frowned and followed. "When I meet him, I'm going to have a serious talk with him."

"I know, I know, he can be a bit ridiculous sometimes."

"Ridiculous? No, I just mean that if you keep a swimming pool in a library then the books could inevitably become wet! He obviously designed the rooms here himself, so I'll have to teach him how to respect and care for literature in the proper way."

"… Uh-huh." Rory used his eyes for a special eye-roll that he usually reserved for The Doctor. "Oh, speaking of literature, I have to tell you something-"

"Where you're from, I'm a fictional book character that takes place in the late 1800s, and you want to know how I exist."

"… Oh, uh, yes. How did you know that?"

Sherlock stopped walking and stared ahead of them.

"I'll tell you later, Rory. For now, let's go to The Doctor."

Rory looked ahead of them as well and saw the large, orange-glowing brilliance of the control room. There was the control panel in the center with all of the switches, levers, and knobs that it usually had that were unusual in every way. There were the many stairways leading to who-knows-where deeper in the TARDIS, and the magnificence that was the TARDIS in itself.

To Rory, this was normal.

To Sherlock, this was interesting.

After taking in the details of the room itself, the detective walked towards the central control panel. He saw all of the levers, switches, diodes, and more that made it up and enjoyed the slight chaos that kind of radiated off from it. He turned to Rory and asked the question that should've been thought of before.

"So, how do you fly this thing?"

"… I have no idea."

Sherlock frowned and looked over Rory's face. His expressions clearly showed that he was telling the truth and wasn't hiding anything. He was absolutely honest in saying that neither of them knew how to get to the person who could help them.

"Well that's just _great! _How do you expect for us to get to your 'Doctor' then?"

Rory raised his arms defensively. "Don't look at me, mate, you're the one who's switched bodies with him!"

"You're the one who's traveled with him!"

"You're supposed to be Mister Genius Detective!"

"You're the one who traveled through time!"

"You're the-! I! Uh… Um…. Grrr…"

Rory found himself without a witty retort and with a very smug Sherlock. He glared at him for a second before giving up and walking over to the controls.

"… um, well… The Doctor usually just walks around and-"

"Don't say, just do. Now hurry up!"

Rory glared at Sherlock again before turning back to the controls. He took a deep breath, and told himself to relax. He told himself he could do this. He looked back at the knobs and levers and told himself that he had no idea what he was doing. Rory sighed and reached out for the switches.

_Alright, let's see, um… Let's flick the blue one, now the red, pull the striped lever, tap that button…. erm… oh! And twist that knob._

After doing this, a humming sound filled the air and Rory got a tight hold onto the control panel for the flight.

But it turned out that there wasn't a flight. The humming turned to whirring, the whirring turned to buzzing, and then a small square space slid open on the control panel and a small cardboard cup rose out of it. It was filled with a light brown liquid, slightly steaming.

Sherlock walked over to him and looked over Rory's shoulder to see what he did. He reached over, picked up the cup and sniffed.

"…. You seem to have made a cup of hot chocolate."

"Oh, that's… nice."

Sherlock shoved the drink into Rory's hands, fortunately not spilling any on him.

"We're not here to make drinks, Rory. Now, let's find a way to get to your 'Doctor'."

Somehow, Sherlock was able to calmly slam a fist on the console. When he did that, he pressed a button, which made a small bowl of marshmallows come out.

"Ugh, how many buttons does this thing have?!"

In saying this, the detective's eyes glanced towards something that wasn't unlike a computer screen hanging at about eye level near the central column. He walked over to a type of keyboard under it and clicked a button. The computer-like machine turned on and, fortunately, a little search box popped up. Sherlock typed in "Earth, Thursday, 2012, London, England, 221B Baker Street, John Watson, 'The Doctor in Sherlock's body'."

Once it was entered, the machine found coordinates for a time-zone at 221B Baker Street, London, England, Earth, in 2012 on a Thursday that had John Watson and The Doctor in his body together.

_Oh, that was easy._

Sherlock typed a bit more and found instructions for how to fly the TARDIS to these coordinates.

"This is almost too easy!"

Rory, who had been watching and plopping marshmallows into his new cup of cocoa, said, "The Doctor said the TARDIS always reacted to mental instructions a bit more than physical ones. I guess it just trusted you. You're lucky. It took me a week to navigate the way to my room without the hallways changing on me."

Sherlock was busy reading over the instructions while Rory was talking, so he just responded with a "That's nice." Once he had it memorized, he leapt off.

Sherlock went around all six sides of the TARDIS's control panel flicking, flipping, pulling, typing, and basically doing all the things Rory remembered The Doctor doing. Rory was sure that if he didn't know this was actually somebody different, he would've believed that this was really The Doctor. Soon, the TARDIS began to shake slightly and a wheezing, grating noise filled the air. It started to shake more, and soon Sherlock and Rory were grabbing for a hold on the railings as the space ship shook from side to side.

Sherlock was chuckling at what he had done, watching as the thing inside the central column moved up and down as the ship swayed. Rory was keeping a hold on the railing, trying not to spill his hot cocoa.

Soon, the noise and swaying grew to an end and they landed. Sherlock strode over to the door and said, "Come along, Rory."

Rory followed the detective, and they stopped at the front doors. With a slight pull, Sherlock opened them, and they were met with Sherlock's (the body, that is) smiling face, obviously being controlled by The Doctor.

"There you are! Ooh, hot chocolate."

Before he could say a word, the steaming sweet drink was snatched out of Rory's hands and was being slurped up by The Doctor.

"Mmmm, marshmallows!"


	5. Chapter 5: Convincing John

John Watson was very, very confused. It started out as a very boring day at first, and now he was standing in his living room with his partner, Sherlock, and two other people that mysteriously appeared in an even-more mysterious blue box.

_No wonder I'm confused_, thought John when he glanced at a calendar hanging on the opposite wall, _it's Thursday. I could never really get the hang of Thursdays._

"Hey, I was going to- you know what? Never mind," said Rory, giving up on trying to get his hot chocolate back.

The Doctor stood gulping down the sweet drink until it was all gone. He put the cup down with a satisfied smile, licking his lips.

"Mmmm, I love hot cocoa. I could drink it forever. Actually, there's a planet of a nearly-immortal race of beings where their water supply is hot chocolate, so they could actually drink it forever. Well, _nearly_."

"Alright Doctor, now I'm absolutely sure that's you." Rory smiled and looked over The Doctor (well, technically Sherlock, considering he was in his body). "Huh, so this is what 'the great Sherlock Holmes' looks like?"

"Um, excuse me-?" John said, but was cut off by The Doctor slapping a hand on his back.

"Yes, and this is 'the great John Watson'!"

"Really?" Rory furrowed his brow. "Well, they don't look like they do in the books."

"Books-?"

"Or the films."

"Yeah, you know, I'd expect for Dr. Watson to at least have a mustache."

"Mustache? What are you-?"

"Or be in 1895 where they actually belong."

"Yeah, what's up with that? I mean, I expect for you to know, since you're the Time Lord."

"What's a-?"

"Well, I'm a human now, does that make you happy?"

"Now, hang on, I didn't mean what I said before as-"

"EXCUSE ME!"

The two stopped their chatting and turned to the previously ignored John, who looked more than a bit annoyed.

"Alright. I want to know three things. One, who are you people? Two, where the _hell _did you come from? And three," he looked behind Rory and his tone changed when he asked this next question, "what's wrong with your friend?"

Rory and The Doctor simultaneously turned around and saw Sherlock walking around and around the TARDIS. Then, he poked his head back inside. Walk, walk, walk. Look. Walk, walk, walk. Look. Walk, walk, walk. Look.

The Doctor walked over to Sherlock and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Um, hello? Did you just discover that it's bigger on the inside?"

Sherlock looked back at him with pure curiosity.

"Yes, now explain to me how it works. I know that it's big on the inside, I was just in there, but on coming out it's small, small enough to fit in my flat. So, how do you work out the math and science to fit an enourmous space ship into one, tiny, box?"

The Doctor suddenly looked nervous and scratched the back of his head. "… Um, well, it's very complicated…. And it may make human heads explode… uh… Hey, I just remembered!" The Doctor went behind Sherlock and started to push him towards John. "You probably want to explain to Mr. Watson here our current situation."

"Yes, I would like that," said John, "because for right now, I'm just terribly confused with everything that's been happening this morning. First, it's a crazy-acting Sherlock- well, more crazy than usual. Next, it's a weird blue box that appears in my living room, and lastly, two new people just pop in out of the said box. I want an explanation before I'm thoroughly convinced that I need to go to an insane asylum."

Sherlock was silent for a moment and then started to speak.

"The Doctor probably already tried to explain what has happened, but looking at him for a few seconds has given me an insight on his personality, and if what I've seen is correct, you didn't believe a word he said. What happened is this: The Doctor and Rory Williams, the other man behind me, travel in the box that just appeared which is a time machine and a space ship. The Doctor fiddled with a machine-"

"Rory made me!"

"No, I didn't!"

"-in there that switched our minds. I can tell that you don't believe me, so I'll prove it. The shirt you're wearing today is three days old, judging by the wrinkles and various food stains on the front. You used a different kind of comb today to neaten your hair; probably just bought it yesterday because it looks different than all the other times you've combed your hair because of the bristles' indentations, and that I noticed you carrying a small bag in from the supermarket last night, approximately the size of a hair comb. You were up late last night reading that new book you got a few days ago judging by the slightly deeper bags under your eyes and the many attempts you tried not to yawn during the conversation."

"Wow, impressive," said The Doctor, with a grin. "I would only expect the best from Sherlock Holmes."

Sherlock suddenly stood rigidly still. He turned to The Doctor and almost glared holes in him with a piercing gaze. His face didn't show any anger, but it still made The Doctor feel suddenly ashamed for whatever he did. Sherlock spoke with a voice that was calm, but at the same time dripping with venom.

"… You think that's my best?"

The Doctor nervously looked from side to side. "N-no, no! I bet you can do way better than that any day! Honest!"

Sherlock still continued to glare at the now-shrinking away Doctor. John was watching this, not knowing what to believe. One part of his mind said that the probability of this happening was incredibly small to none. That part of his mind said this was nonsense and could never happen. But the other part of his mind couldn't help but accept the evidence that was in front of him. He knew only one person that could deduce like that, and that would take it so seriously.

"Sherlock?"

The said detective stopped staring down The Doctor and turned to his partner.

"Hello, John."

These two words seemed to have a big effect on the ex-army doctor. He fainted.

"… Goodnight, John."


	6. Chapter 6: Calmed Down

John was aware of conversation happening around him. He heard only very fuzzy-sounding voices at first, but then he could hear them clearer and clearer as he regained consciousness.

"… _book…. time…sense…so that's why….I…he's starting to…..John? John?"_

John started to open his eyes and saw his partner's face looking down at him from where he was sitting next to him on the couch.

"John? Are you okay?"

John sighed and closed his eyes again. "Ugh, Sherlock, I had the _weirdest _dream. You were in it, and you were acting really weird, and it turned out you switched bodies with a man that came out of a box. It all felt so real."

"John-?"

"I know, I know, I must be crazy or delusional to believe a second of it. Of course, it didn't happen at all."

"Actually, John…"

John's eyes opened immediately at the sound of the new, yet familiar, voice. He saw the blue box from his 'dream' occupying the living room and, kneeling next to it, Sherlock in The Doctor's body. The detective was holding a blowtorch and had a welding mask on his head, which he had lifted up to speak.

"… even though any other day I would've agreed with you, I'll have to argue with your conclusion."

He covered his face with the mask once again and started to try and burn the box with his blowtorch. Surprisingly, not a single scorch mark was on it.

"I keep telling you, you're never going to find a way to burn it," said The Doctor, giving a smug grin as he leaned back on the couch.

John looked from The Doctor to Sherlock, not exactly knowing how to react to this. Suddenly, he felt a tapping on his other shoulder and he turned to see Rory sitting on his right side, holding a mug.

"Tea?"

"… Oh, th-thank you."

John took the mug and started to sip from it. "Thanks, Mister….?"

"Rory," he replied, with a friendly grin.

John smiled back, thankful for Rory's kindness towards him.

"Oh, Mr. Watson, I almost forgot!" said The Doctor. "We have to explain everything."

"I told him everything about six minutes ago," said Sherlock, putting his blowtorch back in its special cabinet.

"He'll understand it better now that everyone's calmed down and relaxed." The Doctor smiled and put an arm around John. "See? Calm…"

"Please take your arm off me."

"Okay."

Sherlock strode over to his chair, sat down, and put his hands together under his chin in 'the pose'. John always called it 'the pose', and it was just too odd for him to see another person do it, especially one like The Doctor.

"Okay, so now I believe that you two swapped minds, even though it sounds way too improbable, and I can accept it. But… just…. how?"

In the course of about five minutes, Rory and The Doctor explained everything that happened to John, who calmly sat and sipped his tea. When the explanation ended, John spoke up again.

"Wow, that's… that's really cool. But, one little thing is still nagging at the back of my mind. Doctor, when you first talked to me, you seemed surprised at who I was and thought that I was supposed to be in 1895. What's that about?" He tipped his cup back to get the last sips of tea. Big mistake.

"Oh, it's very simple, really. You're supposed to be a fictional book character."

This startling fact made John do a bit of a spit-take into his cup. Once he stopped coughing a bit, he cleared his throat and put the mug down calmly on the coffee table.

"Oh, that's very interesting. So, not only are you from another planet-"

"I'm from Earth."

"-_one of you _isfrom another planet, but you're from some sort of parallel world, too?"

The Doctor scratched his head and frowned. "Now see, that's the thing. The machine that switched our minds wasn't programmed to choose a human from an alternate Earth. It's nowhere _near _as strong as that. Although, here we are!" The Doctor gave a wide gesture with his arms." So, how in the universe did this happen?"

All four people in the room took a few seconds to think about an answer to this problem. After a beat or two, Rory came up with a perfect-for-the-moment explanation.

"Freaky coincidence?"

"… All right, I'll take that."

"Fine with me."

"…mmm."

The Doctor gave a goofy grin. "See, now we have everything sorted out! We've got nothing to worry about."

Sherlock came out of his thoughts for a moment to prove him wrong. "Doctor, how do we switch our bodies back again?"

The Doctor stiffened and nervously scratched the back of his head. "That….. is a very good question. Gold star, Sherlock."

Rory suddenly had an idea pop into his head. "Hey Doctor, the library you have with the swimming pool in it is a pretty big library. It has books on almost everything in there. Do you think it could have a book on alien items or stuff that can switch minds?"

The Doctor scoffed. "Rory, that sounds extremely ridiculous."

"Oh, sorry…"

"I love it!"

The Doctor got up, stepped over to Rory and swept him up in a hug.

"What- Oomph!"

"Oh, Rory, you can be magnificent sometimes!"

"Thank you…. Um, can you stop constricting my ribs?"

"Oh, sorry."

The Doctor let go of his companion and started to head off towards the TARDIS. "To the library!"

Sherlock got up from his chair. "Wait, Doctor!"

When he turned around to look back at Sherlock, he saw the detective gesture to his clothes.

"Oh, right. First, to the closet!" The Doctor stepped inside the TARDIS while Sherlock started to head towards his room.

"Wait, closet? Why?" asked John.

The Doctor and Sherlock's answer before leaving was,

"Wardrobe!"


	7. Chapter 7: Explaining with a Hedgehog

"Wardrobe? What do you think they meant by that?" Rory asked John.

"I don't know," he replied, "but I guess we'll get our answer soon." He got up from the couch and started to head for the kitchen. "Do you feel like a snack?"

Rory shrugged. "Sure, I'd like that."

"Okay. I'll get some crackers and jam." John entered the kitchen and Rory quickly followed.

"I'll get the jam for you," Rory offered. "Where is it?"

John opened a cabinet and reached to get a box of crackers. "Thank you, it's in the fridge-" He caught himself mid-sentence. "Wait, maybe you wouldn't want to-"

"AHH!"

"Too late."

John put the box down onto the counter and walked over to Rory, who had suddenly slammed the refrigerator door shut. "Th-th-th-there was a h-h-head in there…"

"Yeah, I forgot to mention, Sherlock does experiments. With human body parts. But I'm used to it now." He opened the door to grab the jam and yelped as well. "OH MY GOD!"

In the fridge was a human head resting peacefully in a bowl of blood. John quickly grabbed the jar and shut the door, panting in slight fear.

Rory smirked. "What was that about 'being used to his experiments'?"

"Oh, shut up."

The two went back to the living room and started munching on the crackers just as Sherlock entered the room. Rory did a double-take at seeing The Doctor's body dressed so…. well, normally, he thought. Sherlock had dressed in his normal pants, button-down shirt, and blazer, and seemed a bit cheered up at being back in his old clothes.

"It feels great to be back in my old clothes." That's what _I_ just said. "I feel a bit more like myself again. Well, a bit."

Before Rory or John could say anything, a voice came out from inside the TARDIS.

"One… two… me!" The Doctor skipped into the room from the big blue doors of the time-machine/spaceship and struck a pose, making John almost choke on his cracker. The Doctor was dressed in his usual white shirt, suspenders, and bow tie, but on Sherlock's body, they seemed really out of place.

He walked over to Sherlock and held out his hand. The detective answered by giving him his tweed jacket back. With a large grin, The Doctor slipped into the jacket and hugged himself.

"Oh, it feels good to be back!" He released himself from the self-hug and straightened his bow tie. "How do I look?"

John couldn't hold it in any longer and giggled at seeing Sherlock's body in The Doctor's clothes.

"In my opinion, your suit juxtaposes with my body very oddly, and it looks highly ridiculous. A bow tie? Seriously?"

"…. um… it's nice?" Rory cautiously commented.

The Doctor frowned and feigned deep anger. "Fine," he said, crossing his arms, "if that's the way you feel about my clothing choices, then I won't tell you the explanation to all of our problems."

"Doctor, tell us," said Sherlock, who had just sat down in his chair.

"All right, I will. First, I'll tell you how we got here!" The Doctor smiled and reached into a jacket pocket. He stuck his arm deeper into the pocket and seemed to be rifling through many objects. "Now where is it? I know I have it here somewhere…. Yo-yo, banana, kite, teddy bear, Halloween candy, hed- OW!" He grimaced and ran over to John. "John, please be a dear and hold this."

"Um, okay, what exactly is- OW!" John's outstretched hand was met by a hedgehog that The Doctor had just placed there.

"Thanks, John!" The Doctor smiled and went back to rifling through his pocket. "Ah! Here we are!" He pulled out a small book that was titled 'A Beginner's Guide to Wormholes'. "I thought that maybe wormholes might've had something to do with this, and I remembered I had a copy of this book in my pocket. And if my calculations are correct…"

The Doctor flipped through the book and his eyes lit up at a page. "Yes! Now we have a reasonable explanation for our literary conundrum. Now, as I said before, the machine that switched my mind with Sherlock's isn't nearly powerful enough to choose an alternate universe human, _but _it can do that if a wormhole is already there to form a link between the universe it's in and the other universe. You see, it can't make a portal or reach to the other universe on its own, but when a wormhole naturally occurs in the deepness of space and time it can randomly link the two worlds and can be reached by the machine. And do you know the best part?"

He looked eagerly at the faces of his audience, who, besides Sherlock, looked vacantly lost.

"… Okay, the best part is, when Sherlock flew The TARDIS, the old girl gave him not only coordinates, but she also gave him instructions to turn on a special lock. The lock he enabled let them fly through the wormhole and, at the same time, lock it out to every other spaceship in the universes, so only we can fly through it, and we can do it any time we want to! So if we ever want to drop you a visit, no problem. Isn't that great?"

"That sounds _wonderful, _Doctor," Sherlock said, dripping with sarcasm, "but what about the answer to our current problem?" During The Doctor's explanation, Sherlock had taken the hedgehog out of John's hands, so now he was stroking it along its back carefully with one finger.

"Right, right, right. Well, I have a nursery rhyme book in my room from when I was just a little Time Kid on Gallifrey. It has a tale about a distant planet where crystals of great power grow that can do anything you want them to, if you're the correct person to wield them. I believe the planet may actually exist, and that we should try and find it. Even if it's not real, it still sounds like a good adventure. Who's with me?"

"Anything to get back in my body, Doctor," said Sherlock, now rubbing the hedgehog's tummy. The little mammal wriggled and purred in delight at the detective's touch.

John raised an eyebrow at his partner. "Um, Sherlock, you look like you _really_ like that hedgehog."

"It's not boring," was his reply.

"Alright, so are we off on an adventure?" asked Rory, getting up from the couch.

"Yes, we are!" The Doctor said, heading to The TARDIS. "Let's go!"

* * *

**Author's Notes: Hello there, readers. Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I've just been pretty busy. Merry Christmas to all!**


	8. Chapter 8: Storytime Searchings

The Doctor opened the doors to the TARDIS and stepped to the side. "After you."

Sherlock and Rory walked into the TARDIS, while John followed reluctantly. "How are we all going to fit in there? It's-" He stopped after seeing the splendor of the large control room. He turned his head to look at every corner of the magnificent room while The Doctor closed the door.

"Let me start it this time! 'It's…"

"It's bigger on the inside," whispered John.

"Oh, that never gets old!" The Doctor cried, with a nostalgic grin. He leapt to the control panel and started flicking switches and checking screens. "Rory, get the nursery book I mentioned from my room. It's big with a light brown leather cover. The title is in Gallifreyan, so you can't read it. "

"Okay, I'm on it," Rory replied, and headed towards a corridor.

John walked over to the control panel, still in awe at the machine's physics. "This is really… wow."

"Wow it is, my friend. Glad you like it." The Doctor smiled a centimeter wider before going back to the TARDIS's computer. After a bit of typing, he looked up triumphantly. "Aha! Just as I thought. The planet _does _exist, and I can more or less find its location in just a moment."

He began to type again when Sherlock asked, "Doctor, do you have any dried grasshoppers?"

"Bottom blue cabinet under the fifth side of the control panel, has a bat sticker on it," he replied, not looking up.

"Thank you. John, hold him." Before John could react, Sherlock placed 'him' in his hand and crouched down to look for the cabinet.

'Him' begin the hedgehog from earlier, which had happened to prick John's hand with its spines once again.

"Ow!" The blogger looked angrily at the now-scared hedgehog. "Sherlock, you _kept _it?"

Sherlock popped back up with a dried grasshopper in his hand and an angry frown on his face. "He's not an 'it', John, he's a 'he'."

"He's not a 'he', his name is Finn."

Both Sherlock and John turned to look at The Doctor.

"… What? I speak hedgehog."

"Where in the world do you learn to speak hedgehog?" asked John.

"Not in the world really. In the galaxy would be more appropriate. There's this great place on Mars you can visit in the future where you can learn almost any animal language. You should visit someday!"

John simply shook his head incredulously and handed Finn back to Sherlock. The consulting detective cradled the small mammal in one hand while he fed him the grasshopper with the other. After Finn ate the insect, it purred and whistled happily.

"Doctor, do you know what he might be saying now?"

The Doctor walked over to Finn and leaned closer to him, listening intently. "Oh, um…. he's saying he's glad that his dad is taking such good care of him."

"Wait, it thinks that Sherlock is it's dad?" asked John. "What happened to its real dad? Where did you get it anyway?"

"Hey, if you want to solve the mystery of how things appear in my pockets, then be my guest." The Doctor suddenly stopped and leaned closer to Finn again. "Oh, now he's wondering why his mum is so angry with him."

"It thinks I'm it's mum?!"

"_He _think you're-"

"Whatever!"

"Wait, he thinks I'm his dad?" asked Sherlock. "That might be a problem."

"You're right Sherlock, it's definitely a problem."

"When we switch bodies again, then he'll want to stay with you, Doctor."

"Oh for-"

"I've got the book!" Rory entered the room holding a dusty, leather book. "Um, did I miss anything?"

"Excellent, Rory!" The Doctor grabbed the book from him and flipped through it. "Let's see… 'Volcano of Ice'…. 'Black Hole of Infinity'…. 'The Star That Could Destroy Anything'…. Here we go! 'Crystals Have Power'! Everyone sit down for story time!"

Everyone took a seat around The Doctor as he started to read aloud.

_"In great caves of wonder the crystals grow,_

_all sorts of things to do they know._

_If the worthy being to find them tries,_

_anything he wants will happen right before his eyes."_

"Doctor, does it _really _rhyme like that?" asked Sherlock.

"Um, well, I may be paraphrasing a bit. Stop interrupting! Where was I? Oh, yes.

_Past the farthest reach where space is still,_

_where not much stirs and no life forms kill,_

_lays a planet that gleams like a light in the dark,_

_a safe haven that doesn't make a mark."_

"Doesn't make a mark? What does that mean?" interrupted Rory.

"It means that it's very undetectable and almost impossible to find. What did I say about twenty seconds ago?

_The crystal planet's surrounded by black holes that swirl,_

_and threaten to suck in anything that comes near as they twirl._

_But if you can dodge the sucking terrors, then_

_you shall find a magnificent place with crystal mountains and glens._

_Everything's made of gemstones as far as the eye can view,_

_rubies, sapphires, emeralds, gems old and brand new!_

_But what you will want lies in the cave where the entrance is hidden_

_because evil creatures getting the crystals is strictly forbidden."_

"Wait, I thought you said only people worthy of using the crystals can use them," said John.

"Well, all systems are made to be manipulated. I learned that the hard way. Now SHH!

_Once you open the doorway, in the dark cave you go._

_You need to pack light or else you'll go slow. _

_Slow is the way you don't want to go_

_because if you're slow you'll be melted by the defense lava, you know."_

"*snort-snort* *puff* *snort* *puff-puff-puff!*"

"No Finn, it is _not _a story that Dr. Seuss wrote on a bad day! Why is everybody talking?!"

"*whine* *snort-puff-snort-snort* *puff-puff* *snort*"

"Oh, it's alright, Finn, old Uncle Doctor's not mad at you. At least _someone's _apologizing. Now, back to the book.

_If you can succeed in not getting scorched,_

_then the next test is safer and won't get you torched._

_It's a scan to see if you're pure of heart,_

_and if the universe is better if you are of it, a part._

_Now your hard work has finally paid off!_

_You're in the cavern of crystals at which no-one will scoff._

_Remember to keep in check your greed_

_and that your wants are not as important as your needs._

_Just take a crystal, mind you, only one,_

_make a wish, and then the deed is done._

_You can only use one wish per person, so_

_you have to use it for something important, you know. _

_Then you can go out and be on your merry way!_

_Now, wasn't that a fun way to spend the day?_

_And maybe you can do something even better tomorrow._

_Keep optimistic and you'll never find sorrow._

_The End"_

The Doctor closed the book and looked down at his audience. "Now, any questions? Rory, you go first," he said when his companion raised his hand.

"What was the point of that?"

"So you all know what to expect when we go searching for the planet," The Doctor replied, frowning. "Any other questions?"

John and Sherlock's hands shot up into the air.

"That aren't about the story."

John and Sherlock lowered their hands.

Finn raised a paw into the air.

"Yes, Finn?"

"*whistle-snuff* *whistle* *snuff-snuff-whistle-snuff?*"

"Yes, hedgehogs can use the crystals too."

"*whistle!* *purr*"

"All right, if there aren't any more questions, let's search for the planet! Everyone up, we're off!"

John, Sherlock, and Rory stood up as The Doctor leapt to the controls. After running around flicking switches and pulling levers, The TARDIS started up with its familiar wheezing, grating sound. The control room shook from side to side, and the passengers had to brace themselves on the TARDIS railings. Soon, the room was still and The Doctor was panting a bit.

"*pant* *pant* You get really tired in these bodies *pant* after only a little bit of jumping around. *pant* I wish I had my two hearts back!"

"Are we there yet?" asked Sherlock.

"No. I don't have exact coordinates for the planet, so I guessed that it would be somewhere at one of the ends of the universe. We're going to have to search for it the old fashioned way!" The Doctor headed towards the door.

"What would the old fashioned way be?" asked John.

"This," he replied, opening the doors and sticking his head out. "… Don't see any black-hole surrounded planets here." He turned his head. "Or there. Maybe we should move ahead a few lightyears." He headed back towards the control panel.

"Doctor, that kind of searching could take forever," said Rory. "Isn't there a faster way?"

"Sorry, Mister Pond. We have no other way. It could take hours, days, but we'll-"

"I found it!"

This exclamation was made by Sherlock, although nobody else could see him.

"I'm out here!"

All three of them ran to the TARDIS's doorway and saw that Sherlock was hanging on for dear life onto the other side of the TARDIS. Finn was seen clinging onto a few locks of his hair.

"The planet's behind the TARDIS! Take a look! It's quite nice, actually."

After getting Sherlock pulled safely back into the spaceship, The Doctor rotated it to face the other direction. They looked out the doors and saw a cluster of black holes in a circular formation around a planet. The planet was a pinkish-blueish hue in general, although some parts were colored green, purple, yellow, and other magnificent colors. All of it glittered in the light of the surrounding stars that weren't getting sucked into black holes, making everybody gaze in awe at its impressive display.

"… We've found the crystal planet."


	9. Chapter 9: Getting Warmer (Literally)

The Doctor closed the TARDIS doors and once again leapt to the controls. "Alright everybody, let's get down to the surface of the planet. The TARDIS can evade those black holes in the blink of an eye."

He had only flipped the green-spotty switches and was about to press the purple buttons when John asked, "Doctor, what will happen if you can't fix this? What will you do if you and Sherlock can't switch back?"

The Doctor was dreading this question, and he wanted to try to escape answering it. But Sherlock and Rory were listening as well, and he knew he couldn't evade this. He sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"… Well, if there was absolutely no way we could switch back…. even after we had tried everything, then… I guess we'll all go back to our normal lives. Except I'll be a human, and Sherlock will have to learn the burden of a Time Lord."

"Burden of a Time Lord? What do you mean by that?"

"You've lived for a long time, haven't you, Doctor?" asked Sherlock. "Your eyes, they're old eyes. I can tell that they've seen many deaths, many hardships. You've lived through years of sadness and grief. And you still have many more to live through. You've been dreading to answer this question, but it's not because you miss your old body. It's because you don't want me to endure the hardships of near-immortality."

"You really _are _Sherlock Holmes," The Doctor answered with a scoff, "because you're absolutely correct. I'm used to watching lives and planets crumble away, but you're not. Everybody you care for will fade away. Your family, your friends, John, will all go away, but you'll stay. I don't want you to go through that type of heartbreak. And I swear with all of my hearts- er, heart, that I'll find a way to fix this, so that will never happen."

Sherlock smiled and nodded towards the controls. "Then, what are we waiting for?"

The Doctor gave a grin as he pressed and flicked some more switches. His hand hovered over a lever. "Let's go get those crystals."

He pulled the lever and the TARDIS was off. The room rumbled and tilted as the TARDIS moved from its spot in space to the surface of the planet below. Once it landed, The Doctor skipped to the door and poked his head out. He pulled it back in with a huge grin.

"Wow, it's really impressive out there. You should take a look!"

The other three exited the TARDIS and were met with a magnificent sight. The whole planet was made of gemstones and jewels. There were ruby mountains, sapphire trees, emerald hills, and there was even a molten silver lake. The ground they were standing on was made of quartz, and, along with the rest of the planet, sparkled and gleamed.

While the group stared in awe, a butterfly made of intricate hiddenite and amethysts landed on John's nose, making him go cross-eyed to see it. He cautiously brought a finger to his nose and the butterfly crawled on. After a few seconds, it fluttered away again, gleaming in the light.

"Wow…" muttered Rory, finally breaking the silence.

"I know." The Doctor clapped his hands, bringing everyone out of their trances. "Well, let's get to finding that cave! It shouldn't be far."

"I think I see it over there," said Sherlock. "Let's see if it is the cave. The sooner I get out of this goofy-looking body, the better."

The consulting detective started off towards a turquoise hill with Rory and John in tow while The Doctor stayed behind, looking a little offended.

"…Goofy-looking?"

"Come on, Doctor!"

"Coming!" He followed, grumbling the while way. "I don't think I'm goofy-looking…"

Once he had rejoined the group, they were at the foot of the hill, where there was a large, dark hole that seemed to go downwards and downwards on into the ground.

"This definitely looks like a cave entrance, Doctor," said John. "Is it_ the _entrance?"

The Doctor stepped forward and deeply breathed in through his nose.

"…. I smell molten lava. Yes, this is the cave!"

"Well, that was easy," said Rory. "… Wait, molten lava?"

"Yes, don't you remember from story time? The lava defense systems? Ugh, I need to get a more attentive companion."

"If there's lava down there, how do we get to the caverns it talked about?" asked Sherlock.

"We'll dodge that obstacle when we come to it. For now, we journey on!" The Doctor crawled into the hole and went deep into the hill. After a second, his voice was heard echoing out from the aperture. "It gets bigger after a few feet and forms a pathway! Come in!"

Suddenly, a snorting sound started to come from Sherlock's hair and Finn popped out of his brown locks.

"Don't be nervous, Finn. Everything will be alright," the detective said, picking Finn up and cradling him in his hands. "Let's go."

Sherlock stepped into the cave and disappeared into the hill. John walked in next and Rory followed. At first, they found themselves stepping through darkness, but as they walked on, the cave started to shine bright red as they walked along a passage of rubies. The floor was smooth underneath their feet, yet the walls of the cave were jagged with gems.

"Doctor, how are the rubies glowing?" asked Rory, admiring the route they were taking.

"A question for another time. The question for now is, look at the rubies themselves!" The Doctor knelt down onto the floor and rapped it with his knuckles. Next, he felt it gently with one finger. "The jewels in this part of the cave seem to be protected with a natural coating of some sort. Why does it do that? It seems to be virtually indestructible, unbreakable-"

"Un-meltable?" asked Sherlock, who suddenly stiffened and stared at the walls.

"Well, yes, it would be protected from melting. What's extra-interesting is-"

"Doctor," interrupted Sherlock again. "We have to move _now._" The detective looked even more worried now.

"Well, why's that?"

"You told us about lava defense systems earlier. The cave smells like molten lava, the gems are protected by a natural un-meltable coating, and the walls have gotten dimmer except for a spot near the mouth of the cave that's getting brighter. It's too obvious to miss."

Once they heard that last part about the mouth of the cave, the other three looked towards the way they came in and saw a yellow-red-colored glowing coming closer and closer. The cave started to heat up considerably and The Doctor perked up.

"Oh, the lava defense systems! There they are. Hahaha… RUN!"

Everyone started to run for their lives as a wave of molten rock oozed towards them faster and faster.

"The lava was stored in the walls until the presence of life forms were detected!" explained The Doctor, between breaths. "Once it detected us, it started to flow through hidden canals in the cave and was released near the mouth of it! After years of creatures trying to get the crystals and failing, the rubies here evolved to protect themselves from the lava! Genius!"

"Less talking, more running, Doctor!" yelled John.

"I was going to stop anyway! You can't talk and run easily with these bodies' circulatory systems! Having one heart sucks!"

The group's footfalls echoed around the cave as the molten rock started to catch up with them, a few drops occasionally flying out and burning a hole in the back of their pant langs.

Finn started squealing in pure fear as he was clutched protectively to Sherlock's chest.

"Doctor, we're going to get burned to a crisp!" yelled Rory.

"No, we're not!" yelled Sherlock. "Look up ahead!" In front of the group was a clearing, the stones changing from rubies to diamonds. In the clearing was a deep ditch, fortunately wide enough so that the travelers could jump it. "The lava goes in there to start the cycle all over again! If we jump it, we're all clear!"

Soon, they reached the ditch, with The Doctor jumping across first. He cleared the small chasm with ease, and landed safely on the other side. If you could call collapsing on a floor of diamond in a panting heap 'safe'.

Sherlock was next to take the leap, and was instantly missing his old body's longer legs. Still, he was on the other side in no time.

Rory jumped and landed as well, and the three panting people turned their head to look for John.

The ex-army doctor, being the shortest and less fit of the group, had lagged behind a considerable distance, which was only a foot or two. It was considerable at the moment because the scalding lava was right behind him. He reached the edge and jumped.

During his leap over the chasm, the lava had started to spill into it as well. John cried out in utter pain as an outstretched leg was splashed by the scalding magma, causing a cloud of steam to appear. He collapsed on the other side, face contorted in agony.

"John!" Sherlock got up and ran over to his best friend. He knelt down next to him and saw that he had passed out. Probably from the surprise of his leg being partly melted off. "No, no, no, John!"

Finn struggled and clambered out of Sherlock's hands. Once he hit the floor, he ran over to John's face and started to lick it, whimpering constantly.

Sherlock looked at John's right leg and saw that from the knee down, it was melted off. It ended in a stump of flesh and bone, not bleeding because of the heat of the lava cauterizing the wound. The consulting detective had taught himself long ago that emotions were unimportant, and that caring about somebody did nothing to help them. But John was his friend.

John was his only friend.

Sherlock lay kneeling next to John, a wave of misery overtaking him. The Doctor and Rory slowly came up next to him and looked down at the injured ex-army doctor. Noticing their arrival, Finn stopped licking his 'mom''s face and turned to them.

"*snort-snort-puff* *puff-snort-puff-snort-puff-puff?!*"

"I'm sorry," The Doctor answered. "I can't do anything to heal him. His leg is gone."

Finn's face was overcome with sorrow, and then rage.

"*snort….* *CLICK-CLICK-HISSSS-CLICK* *HIIIIISSSSSS!*"

"Finn, that kind of hurt…" The Doctor replied, sounding quite upset.

Suddenly, a mumble from John caught everyone's attention. His eyes fluttered open and he looked up at his four comrades.

"Wh-what happened?" he mumbled, trying to turn over on his back. He stopped and grimaced in pain when he had to move his half-leg.

Finn immediately ran over to John again and started nuzzling his arm.

"When you jumped the ditch, some lava splashed on your leg," answered Rory, apologetically. "We're really sorry."

John grew a bit pale, and he looked down at his leg in shock. He started to tear up a bit, but shook off his sadness and cleared his throat. "S-So, I-I guess there's n-nothing you can do?"

The Doctor sighed, with a sorrowful gaze. "No-"

"Yes."

Everyone glanced at Sherlock.

"Yes."

The detective looked at his partner with hope. "John, there _is _something we can do about this. Something _I _can do."

"What are you-?"

But before he could ask him what he meant, Sherlock leapt to his feet and started to run to another passage located in the wall, changing from diamonds to moonstone.

"Where are you going?!" yelled Rory.

"To the crystals!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Sorry it took a while to write this, everyone. I know almost everyone on here says this, but please review. Your input is much appreciated. If I got any physics in this wrong about the lava bit, then just remember that this is science fiction, so I'm allowed a little creative license. **


	10. Chapter 10: Crystals of Power

As Sherlock disappeared into the passageway, Finn ran after him as fast as his little legs could take him.

"*snuffle!* *snuff-whistle-snuff!*"

"Wait for me, too!" yelled The Doctor, running after him as well.

"And me!" Rory got up and followed suit.

"… um, hello?! Aren't you forgetting someone?!"

Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked back towards John, who was unable to get up by himself.

"Oh, sorry, John," said Sherlock, running back to his partner. He stopped next to him, stooped down, and picked him up bridal style, being careful of his mutilated leg. "Now, let's go."

As he carried him back to the passageway and rejoined the group, John murmured, "Now people will _definitely_ talk."

They walked along the moonstone passageway, a bit more solemn now then they were before. After a bit, Finn scratched at Sherlock's leg, making the detective pick him up and put him on John's chest as he carried him. Finn immediately started licking John's face again, but the doctor put up with it.

A little bit later, they arrived at an archway, the gems turning from moonstone to dark melanite. They had little light down in the dark cave, most of it coming from the melanite glowing a dark purple. The Doctor reassured the group that it was normal, and not any more dangerous defenses. Once they were in front of the archway, The Doctor stopped everybody.

"Alright, if I'm correct, then this is the scanner the book talked about that judges if you're worthy of entering the cave. Only one person at a time can go through it, so I'll go first."

The Doctor walked under the archway, and once he was under it, he was bathed in a dark purple glow. After a few seconds, the glow turned a light purple, and then vanished.

"I was just deemed worthy," The Doctor said, smiling, "although I'm sure everyone here will be." He walked to the clearing beyond the archway, which was made of nuumite. "Now, Rory, you're up."

Rory walked under the archway as well and flinched when the glow appeared on him. Almost instantly, it turned light purple and then vanished.

"Excellent, Rory, excellent. Now come on up!"

Rory walked over to the clearing as well, and The Doctor started looking around for something. He spotted it on a wall of the cave and walked over to it. 'It' turned out to be a long stick made of nuumite with a sort of crosspiece at the top.

"This will be perfect." He returned to his spot in front of the archway and said, "Sherlock, I'm going to have to ask you to put John and Finn down for second."

The consulting detective frowned, but obliged and lightly set John and Finn down onto the floor.

"Now… catch!"

The Doctor threw the stick over to Sherlock, who caught it just in time.

"Help John use the stick to support himself standing up, like a crutch. While he does that, Finn, you go through the scanner."

Sherlock started to help John to his feet, and Finn walked over to the scanner. He went under it and was bathed in the glow before being approved a few seconds later. The hedgehog whistled in glee before going over to The Doctor's side.

"*snuff-snuff-whistle* *whistle-snuff*?"

"I hope he does. I don't know what he wants to do."

They looked over to Sherlock and John, and saw that the latter was standing on his left leg and holding his crutch under his right arm.

"John! If you can come over, go under the archway."

John started to hobble over to the scanner, with Sherlock watching worriedly. Once he was under the scanner, he was bathed in the dark purple glow, and was approved. He limped over to Finn, who started running in circles around John's legs in happiness.

"Great job, John!" said The Doctor. "Now, last, but not least, Sherlock."

Sherlock strode over to the archway and was covered in the glow. He frowned when ten seconds passed and he still wasn't approved. Then the glow turned bright purple and he was allowed to pass. The Doctor looked at Sherlock, nervously scratching the back of his head.

"Huh, it seemed that the scanner…. needed some time to think about you."

"Now, how is that surprising?" sighed John.

"Haha, very funny," the detective said sarcastically. "Now… to the crystals!"

And with that, Sherlock was off. He sped down the dark nuumite passageway, ignoring his fellow traveler's cries.

"Sherlock! Hey, wait for us!" called Rory, running after the detective once more.

"And us!" said The Doctor, picking up Finn and following Rory.

"… I'll just walk," said John. "It's not like I can run anyway," he mumbled miserably. He started to hobble after his associates, sadly thinking about his leg all the way.

The passageway twisted deeper and downwards, the nuumite not illuminating much of the cave. But then, John spotted a bright light up ahead. He eventually caught up with the rest of the group, who were busy staring in awe at the sight in front of them.

The clearing in front of them was huge, and made of multi-colored alexandrite. The bright colors shone magnificently, like a light in the darkness. In the huge clearing were different clusters of crystals, all of them unique in their own way. Some clusters were smooth, rough, spiky, and grainy. Some were green, red, blue, purple, or multi-colored. All of them dazzled and shone in magnificent radiance, making everyone in the group stop and stare.

Rory eventually broke the silence with a question.

"… Are these the wishing crystals?"

"… No."

Everyone turned to stare at The Doctor in shock.

_"NO?!"_

_"*click-click*?!"_

"No," The Doctor raised the arm that wasn't holding Finn and pointed at the back of the cave, "they're back there."

Everybody else looked at where he was pointing and saw a special cluster of crystals glowing at the back of the cave. It looked like a combination of prehnite and rainbow moonstone, but shone wonderfully all the same. It formed in spikes and seemed to emanate power.

"Oh," said Rory. "Then, what are all these?"

"Different types of crystals, I guess." The Doctor handed Finn to Sherlock and whipped out his sonic screwdriver. "Let's see." He walked over to a smooth cluster of crystals that looked like topaz and scanned them. "These," he checked his screwdriver, "apparently, can let you read minds, as long as you're touching it."

He moved to another cluster, this one being grainy looking, and seemed like it was opal. He scanned it and check its readings. "This one seems to let you understand any language." The Doctor looked up and started to head towards the wishing crystals. "Let's go over to the ones that we want to use."

The group followed The Doctor as well. Suddenly, Rory accidentally brushed against a gemstone that looked like a giant sphere of moldavite with his foot. The sphere started to glow with a white-green light and a giant screen of light appeared above it.

Rory ran to The Doctor and said, "Doctor! Doctor, I accidentally kicked a stone and that came up!" He pointed to the screen of light.

"Hmm, interesting. Is that what I think it is?" The Doctor walked to the side of the screen and scanned it with his screwdriver. "… It is! It's a dimensional portal station! John, how about you look into it so I can demonstrate?"

John shrugged and hobbled over to the screen of light on his crutch and stopped in front of it. He looked into it and saw… him. Well, he saw many, many versions of him, but through different squares that he saw floating about in the screen. He was only able to make out a few.

Through one square, he saw a version of him that looked a lot like him… except that he had short, ginger hair. And was wearing a bathrobe.

_A bathrobe? _he asked himself, before the square vanished and he focused on another one.

Through this one, he saw a taller version of himself with his blonde hair staying the same, but he was dressed in blue pirate clothes.

_Okay, I take back what I said before. A pirate?! _he wondered incredulously, before focusing on another square, convinced that what he would see couldn't and wouldn't be any more ridiculous.

He was so wrong. This version of him was considerably shorter than the others, dressed in archaic clothes, had extremely curly light-auburn hair, big pointy ears, and big hairy feet.

_What in the- What am I supposed to be in this?!_ John wondered, and then remembered a certain book in which there were creatures of this description. _Oh no, I can't be, but, I'm a HOBBIT?!_

John looked out of the screen of light and rejoined the group, noticing that The Doctor was smiling slyly.

"Well? What did you see?"

"…Extremely odd things," John decided to say.

"Ah ha! Well, what you saw was yourself in different dimensions and alternate realities. That stone could take you to any one you wanted. Well, not you, but it could for Rory. He was the one that claimed ownership on it."

"I didn't claim ownership on it," Rory stated.

"You touched it, and that made you own it, and also made you unable to use a wishing crystal."

"Really? Oh well, I guess owning one of those is cool enough," Rory replied, gesturing to the stone.

"Let me look through," said Sherlock, and he walked over to the screen of light. After staring into it for a few seconds, he walked away looking extremely confused.

"Well? What did you see?" asked John.

"… Extremely odd things."

While Sherlock told John what he saw, something about Stephen Hawking or whatever, The Doctor leaned over to Rory and whispered, "Rory, simply pick up the stone and the screen will go away."

Rory walked over to his stone, which lay innocently under the portal station, and touched it. The light screen disappeared, and Rory put the stone into his pocket.

"Let's go to the crystals everyone!"

"Wait," said Sherlock, "where's Finn?"

Suddenly, a light came from the back of the cave. Everybody turned and saw Finn holding a small wishing crystal in his claws next to the large cluster. Finn and the crystal started to glow, until they were both absorbed by the wave of light. Immediately after that, Finn's form began to shift and grow. It shifted from a quadruped into a biped, and his snout began to shrink into his face. His spines disappeared and he grew taller and thinner.

After a minute, the bright light was gone, and in its place was a young boy, approximately 10 years old, standing in a dazed manner. His hair was a scruffy blonde color, and a bit spiky. He wore a brown shirt and trousers, and his eyes were a dark brown as well. He shook himself out of his trance and looked at John and Sherlock with excitement.

"*Whistle-whistle-purr!*"

He ran over to Sherlock and hugged/tackled him to the ground.

"*Purrrrrr….*"

_"F-F-Finn?!"_


	11. Chapter 11: Two Minds Swapped

John looked at the boy hugging Sherlock in astonishment. "_That's _Finn?!"

The Doctor gave a huge grin and said, "Of course it's Finn! Who else do you know was a hedgehog and then wished himself into a human? Well, I know about four people like that, but let's not focus on that right now."

Sherlock struggled and finally managed to push Finn off of him. He sat up and the new human crouched on the ground in front of Sherlock. "Finn, why did you wish you were a human?"

"*Snuffle-snuff-whistle-sn-*"

"Wait, stop!" The Doctor crouched down in front of Finn and smiled at him. "Finn, do you think you can talk like one of us? I know you can understand us. Try and speak."

Finn hesitated and nervously pawed at the ground. He opened his mouth, but all that came out were a few grunts. He shut his mouth and looked away.

"Hey, it's okay," reassured The Doctor, putting a hand on his shoulder, "you're learning. Here, repeat after me. Watch my mouth." Once the young boy was looking at him, The Doctor said, slowly and with great enunciation, "Hel-lo. Repeat after me."

Finn opened his mouth and after a few moments of silence, weakly said, "H-hel-lo." He looked up, eyes gleaming at his achievement.

"Great! Now try this. Watch me." The Doctor got Finn to look at him again. "The Doc-tor is cool. Try it."

"Th-the D-Doc-tor is c-cool," he managed to say, rolling the new syllables around in his mouth.

This earned an annoyed sigh from Sherlock, which The Doctor ignored. "Great! Now, one more practice phrase." He pointed at his bow-tie. "Bow-ties are-"

"Lame!" shouted Rory, Sherlock, and John.

Giggling, Finn said, "Bow-ties are lame!"

"What? No!" The Doctor scowled and got up. "Ugh, no one appreciates my fashion choices!"

"And they never will," said Sherlock.

"I-I," Finn's stuttering brought everyone's attention back to him, "I w-wanted to be human so I could be l-like my mum and dad."

Sherlock smiled and ran a hand through Finn's hair like he did with his spines when he was a hedgehog. John, on the other hand, sighed in exasperation.

"How many times do I have to get it into your head? I'm _not _your mum, hedgehog or human."

Sherlock frowned at his partner, but Finn simply shrugged. "Okay."

"...Oh, thank you."

"I wanted to be human so I can be like my two dads."

An audible smack was heard as John facepalmed. This earned a chuckle from everyone else.

"You know," said The Doctor, "he _does_ look like you."

Rory looked from John to the scruffy-haired kid and found that, in his opinion, what The Doctor said was true. "Huh, would you look at that?"

John groaned and said, "Look, don't you and Sherlock have some wishing to do?"

Once he heard 'wishing', the detective stiffened in remembrance. "Yes. Yes, we do." He got up and walked over to the cluster of wishing crystals. He broke off a piece from the main cluster and held it in his hands as it shone.

"Now, Sherlock," The Doctor said, "you don't have to say the wish. All you have to do is think it and strongly want it."

"Thanks, Doctor," he replied, "now I know it will work." He closed his eyes as he held the crystal in his hands.

A few seconds later, it shone with magnificent hues of color, brighter and brighter. Then, streams of light started to pour out of the crystal. The light flowed like water through the air, and it made its way for the stump of John's right leg. It reached his leg and started to cling to it, as if it was grasping it with fingers. The light poured from the crystal, which was steadily growing smaller and smaller. The light built itself in layers under the stump, and once all of the light was there, it vanished, and in its place stood John's leg, good as new.

Sherlock looked up, his hands now crystal-less, and saw that what he had wished for had come true.

John gazed at his new leg, overjoyed that it was back. He set it down onto the floor and tested it, and it proved to be just like his old one. Setting his crutch down, he walked over to Sherlock with a tremendous grin.

"Sherlock, you... you used your wish for me?"

"Of course, John. You're my only friend, and that's what friends do, right? Do nice things for each other?"

"Does this mean you'll stop playing the violin at three in the morning?"

"...Well..."

John chuckled and pulled his friend into a hug. Sherlock stood confused at first, before awkwardly putting his arms around John and returning the hug. They stood embracing each other for a few precious seconds before The Doctor cleared his throat and interrupted the tender moment.

"Um, just wondering, are you two... um...?"

John got what he was implying and hurriedly replied, "Nononononononono! We're just friends!" He unwrapped himself from Sherlock and took a few steps away from him.

"Hahaha! I'm just messing with you, John. Don't worry." The Doctor clapped his hands together and walked over to the crystal cluster. "Anyway, let's get on with what we came here for." He put a strong grip on one of the wishing crystals and broke it off. "There we go! Now," he looked towards Sherlock, "you ready?"

"Can't wait."

John walked over to Rory and Finn, the latter looking up at him curiously. "What're Dad and Uncle Doctor going to do?"

"Hmm? Oh, right, you weren't there before it happened. Finn, Sherlock and The Doctor actually switched bodies before you met them. So after this, their minds will be swapped."

Finn looked over at Sherlock, who looked a bit worried. "Wow, so Dad's going to look like The Doctor?"

"Yep," said Rory. "By the way, why do you think he's your dad? Where did you come from anyway?"

"The Doctor's pocket."

"... Okay..."

"Finn!"

The young boy looked towards Sherlock, who had called his name.

"Will me looking like him change anything? Will you like me less?"

Finn shook his head, making his spiky hair wave side to side.

"Nuh-uh. Because you'll still be my dad."

Sherlock smiled and turned to The Doctor. "Now I'm ready." He closed his eyes.

The Doctor grinned and said, "See you later." He closed his eyes as well, and wished.

Immediately, the crystal shone magnificently just like Sherlock's, only this time, a light-brownish light started to come out of The Doctor's (technically Sherlock's body's) head. The light was like a cloud, sparkled, and was as brown as The Doctor's jacket. At the same time, a dark blue light started to come out of Sherlock's (technically The Doctor's body's) head. The two clouds of light passed in-between the two men, and were absorbed into their heads. Once the clouds were gone, they opened their eyes.

_".. IT WORKED!"_ they both shouted in glee. They looked down at themselves and at each other, grinning the whole time.

"I never thought I'd be happy to be wearing these clothes," said Sherlock, looking down at what he was wearing. He strode over to John and Finn, overjoyed. "John! How do I look?"

"... Ridiculous."

"I know, isn't it great?" Sherlock grinned so widely John was worried his face would split in two.

Meanwhile, The Doctor was skipping about in his old legs. "Oh, The Doctor is in!" He stopped near Rory and gave him a tight hug. "I'm back!"

"Th-That's great, Doctor... C-crushing my sp-spine..."

"Ooh, sorry."

Finn looked over Sherlock in curiosity. "So this is how you looked like before I met you?"

"Yes, yes it is, Finn."

"I like you better this way," he said, smiling.

Sherlock grinned yet again and pulled him into a hug. He looked up at John hopefully.

"... Oh, alright," he said, and joined the hug.

Once they broke away, Sherlock reached into his pocket. "Here you go, John." He handed the ex-army doctor something, and when he opened his hand to look at it, it turned out to be a wishing crystal. "You didn't make a wish, so it's yours."

John looked up at Sherlock gratefully. "Thanks, Sherlock. I'll save it for later," he said, putting it in his pocket. "Also, you didn't have to use your wish on me. You could've wished for anything you wanted."

"I _did_ wish for what I wanted."

John smiled wearily at his friend. "Wow, you're so... human today. Even when you weren't one."

Sherlock frowned. "So I was. Don't be expecting it anytime soon."

"Don't worry, I know better than that." John turned to walk to The Doctor, but his foot nudged something. He looked and saw that he touched his stone crutch with his foot. "Don't need you anymore. Goodbye!" he said, before swiftly kicking the crutch. He did _not_ anticipate what happened next.

He kicked the crutch with more force than he thought, and it hit the wall pretty hard. A loose gem that looked like agate fell from the ceiling and hit a cluster of crystals. Surprisingly, it ricocheted off of that cluster and hit another cluster, ricocheting off of that one. It finally hit a gem that looked like zircon on another cluster across the room with great force. Once the two gems touched, a great electric shock went through both of them and through the floor of the cave. The entire cave seemed to rumble and tremble under the travelers.

The Doctor dropped to the floor and put his ear next to it. After listening for a few seconds, he got to his feet and yelled the word he has probably used more than any other.

"RUN!"

* * *

**Author's Note: Hello again, readers. As you may have guessed, the story will be ending soon. I'll put one more chapter up in the next few days, and then it shall be complete. If you liked this story, then I'm contemplating making a sequel for it in which John will have a chance to use his crystal, except it will be a Sherlock and Hobbit crossover. Review saying if I should or shouldn't. A little note that I wanted to put was that this is not Johnlock. Just saying.**

**Oh, and one more thing. In the previous chapter, when John looked into the dimensional portal, the alternate realities he saw were Martin Freeman's roles in other movies. To anyone who didn't catch the references, the first square he looked into showed Arthur Dent from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy", the second showed the Pirate with a Scarf from "The Pirates! Band of Misfits", and the third showed Bilbo Baggins from "The Hobbit".**


	12. Chapter 12: The End (Or is it?)

The Doctor, Sherlock, Rory, John, and Finn ran out of the dazzling cavern and into the nuumite passageway. The entire cave trembled and shook, making small pebbles and dust fall from the ceiling. As they ran along in the almost-darkness, Rory cried out, "Doctor, what's happening?!"

"Well, John here accidently made two stones that are very disagreeable with each other touch! Once they touched, the different energies in them collided and-"

"Say the short version!"

"If we don't leave soon, we'll be trapped in a cave-in!"

This made the group run even faster to the entrance, the gems falling from the walls growing larger as they ran. They ran out of the nuumite passageway, through the archway, into the melanite clearing, down the moonstone passageway, into the diamond clearing, over the lava-catching ditch, through the ruby passageway, and finally, out of the cave. They collapsed onto the ground in front of it, panting heavily, even The Doctor. When they looked back at the cave, they saw a curtain of jewels and gems through the entrance blocking the way in.

Once they caught their breath, they made their way to the TARDIS. While Sherlock gave The Doctor his jacket back so he could get the key to open the doors, John asked, "So, is that the last anyone will ever hear about the crystals?"

"Well, not necessarily, but it will make it a good deal harder for some people." The Doctor found his key and opened the doors. "Try to be more careful next time," he said before stepping into TARDIS.

The others walked in after him, and John furrowed his brow. "Next time?"

The Doctor closed the doors and walked over to the console. "Well, I hope there's a next time. I'd like you to come with me again soon, traveling," he said, looking under the console for something. "There sure is a lot more than planets made of jewels out there." He reached and pulled open a drawer, immediately rummaging through it.

"That sounds amazing, Doctor," said John, breaking out into a wide grin. "We'd love to go traveling with you."

"You're not."

Those two words made John and Sherlock stiffen in shock. "... What?"

"You're not for now. I'm bringing you back to Baker Street," he replied, pulling odd things out of the seemingly bottomless drawer. "Oh, that's where my cactus went."

"Baker Street?" asked Finn. "What's that?"

Sherlock turned to Finn and said, "Remember where you first saw me and John? That's our flat in 221B Baker Street, where we live. But we want to go traveling with The Doctor, and we want to know why he's not taking us."

"I will take you! But not now. Not today. Here's my snowglobe! I've been looking for it everywhere."

"Why?" asked John. "Why do you want us back in our normal lives?"

"You _should_ be in your normal lives!" The Doctor snapped, looking up at them. "You wouldn't understand. You can't see it from my point of view."

A flash of remembrance passed through Rory as he recognized those words.

_"...then the next person who holds it will see things from your point of view for a few precious seconds..."_

"Yes, they can."

The Doctor, Sherlock, and John turned to Rory, who put a hand into his pocket. "Yes, they can," he repeated, "or they _will_." He pulled out the small, blue pyramid he got from the machine room. "Using this."

The Doctor grinned and said, "Brilliant idea, Rory. Press the button on one of its sides and then lay it on the console."

Rory was a bit confused at this, but did as The Doctor asked and pressed the button. After he put it down, The Doctor started to explain.

"Sherlock, John, I had Rory reset this for me. It''l make you understand why I'm bringing you back to Earth." The Time Lord walked over and touched the pyramid. "Now, you two, put your hands on this."

The two detectives looked at each other warily, but did as The Doctor asked. Instantly, images and words flashed through their heads, both mad and ridiculous, and also old and somber. It told them how human lives are amazing, and that The Doctor had interrupted far too many for his conscience to bear. It told them how they should have a chance at being normal, _even though Sherlock shuddered at the word_, and that 'normal' was more unique then it seemed.

It also told them that bow-ties are too under appreciated.

After a few seconds passed, the thoughts left their heads, leaving them a bit dazed. But they still remembered. Sherlock and John looked up at The Doctor with an understanding gaze, and the Time Lord smiled back in response.

"So now you know why. And, you probably know what I'm going to do now."

Sherlock nodded and held out his hand. The Doctor responded by handing him a small, blue whistle on a gold piece of string.

"What is it?" asked Finn, looking at the whistle curiously.

"It's a special whistle that the TARDIS can 'hear' whenever it's blown. Kind of like an emergency phone call. If you ever need me, any emergencies, problems, apocalypses, just blow on it, and I'll be right there. So you _will_ see me again." The Doctor held up a finger when Sherlock tried to close his hand around the whistle. "Upbupbup! There's one condition. Back there in the caves you said something about John being your only friend."

"Yes, that's correct."

"No, it's not."

Sherlock frowned at The Doctor curiously before he continued what he said. "John isn't your _only_ friend. Or at least, we hope not," he said, moving closer to Rory. "You can keep the whistle, if you accept us as your new friends."

Sherlock looked from The Doctor to Rory before shrugging. "Okay. I hereby call you my friends."

The Doctor grinned from ear to ear. "Brilliant!" He held out his arms. "Can I have a hug, new best buddy?"

"No."

"Too bad!" The Doctor wrapped his arms around Sherlock and squeezed him tightly.

"Gah! Rory's right, you _do_ hug with bone-crushing capabilities," the consulting detective observed, feeling that it was slightly harder to breathe.

The Doctor might've gone on hugging for much longer if John hadn't cleared his throat and said, "Doctor? There's one thing we have to take care of before you leave."

"What's that?" the Time Lord asked, letting go of Sherlock.

"Well, I was wondering what will happen to Finn after you drop us off," he replied, gesturing to the new human.

"I want to stay with you, Dad," said Finn, looking up at him with big eyes.

"Yes, John, we're going to keep him," said Sherlock.

"Well, I don't mean to be rude, Sherlock, but it's going to look a little weird that one day we suddenly show up and we have a kid with us."

"Don't worry," said The Doctor. "I have an answer for that!" He reached into his pocket and, after rifling through the many objects in there, he pulled out a pistol-like injector, that seemed strangely familiar to Rory. "Ah ha, here it is. Now, for the chips..." He reached into his other pocket and pulled out four small nano-chips. "Here we go!" He put one of them into the injector and walked over to Finn. "Now Finn, I have to implant something in your ear right now."

Finn looked at him nervously as he put the injector closer to his ear. "Will it hurt?"

"Yes, it will," he answered, and injected the chip into Finn's ear.

"Ow!"

"See? I was right."

"Doctor, why did you put that in his ear?" asked Rory.

"Well, how about I demonstrate?" asked The Doctor, grinning slyly. He turned to Finn again and said, "Finn, I need you to focus. Focus on your memories of when you were a hedgehog. Remember being a hedgehog. Feel like a hedgehog. You _are_ the hedgehog."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

Finn eyed The Doctor warily, but closed his eyes and did as he was told. Suddenly, he started glowing with a white light, like when he was in the crystal cave, and started to get smaller and smaller. Soon, the light disappeared and in its place was a hedgehog.

"*snuffle*? *whistle-snuff-snuff*!"

"That's right," said The Doctor, looking down at Finn, "you're a hedgehog again! A sudden-appearing kid might attract attention, but not a cute, little hedgehog. You see, the chip taps into the morphing energy left over from your wish so you can reverse the process at ease. If you focus on being a human, you can change back again."

Finn looked up at The Doctor gratefully. "*whistle-whistle-whistle!*"

"You're welcome."

"It's too bad we can't understand hedgehog," said John. "Then we could talk to him in animal form."

"Actually," said The Doctor, standing up and loading his injector, "there is a way for you to do that. But I'll have to put this chip in your ear."

"What-"

But before he could continue his question, The Doctor had already moved the injector to his head. John started to try and dodge the pistol, but to no avail. The Doctor shot the chip into his ear, and after a flash of pain, John heard this:

"*whistle-purr-... so great! Now we can do tons of cool stuff together, and it'll be so much fun!"

"Hey, I can understand Finn now."

"Yep, that's what the chip is for," said The Doctor, moving to Sherlock. "It translates animal languages for you so you can understand what they're saying." He injected the chip into Sherlock ear.

"Ow!"

"But don't worry, you won't hear flies or spiders speaking. Trust me, they are annoying!" He moved over to Rory and injected a chip into his ear.

"Ow! Why'd you do that to me?"

"So now everyone here understands animal languages," said The Doctor, with his usual goofy smile. "Well, now, I guess I'll be dropping you off at 221B!"

"Wait, Doctor!"

The Doctor turned to look at Sherlock. "What?"

"Can I do something really quickly first?"

_A few minutes later..._

Sherlock stared out into space. No, not that kind of space, literal space. He looked at its dark mystery, and saw the stars gleaming with all of their glory. He could see alien planets in farther regions of space, deep in other recesses of the universe. A comet whizzed by him as he floated in the blackness of space, only a piece of rope on his leg keeping him from floating away from the TARDIS. His chocolate brown curls spread out in the zero gravity, and he looked around once more at the majestic wonders surrounding him.

"... Boring."

"But it's the solar system!" argued The Doctor, standing safely inside the TARDIS. "And it's not even ours!"

"Looks nice, but it's still not interesting. I don't get why people are obsessing over it so much."

"Alright, I'm pulling you back in here," The Doctor said, pulling on the piece of rope that tethered Sherlock to the TARDIS.

No one noticed little green, glowing specks stuck to Sherlock's pant leg.

_Back at Baker Street..._

Sherlock and John stepped out of the TARDIS and into their flat, the latter carrying Finn. John looked at the window and saw sunlight streaming in. "Hey, it's still daytime."

"Yep! It's been four minutes and twenty seconds since you left," The Doctor said, staying in the TARDIS. Both the Time Lord and Sherlock had changed back into their original clothes, so The Doctor and Rory were ready to go. "Don't forget us."

"I'm very sure I won't, Doctor," said Sherlock. "We hope to see you again soon."

"So long," said John.

"Come back soon, Uncle Rory and Doctor!"

With a grin, The Doctor closed his ship's doors. A few seconds later, with a whoosh and groan of the TARDIS engines, it dematerialized back out of Baker Street.

Sherlock and John stood there, staring at the spot where the TARDIS was parked, wondering about their next encounter with The Doctor, if they would ever have another.

"Well, that was interesting," said Sherlock.

"Yes, yes it was." John looked down at Finn. "Ooh, we better find a place for Finn to sleep here."

"I think I have a cat bed in my bedroom," Sherlock answered, walking to it as well.

"Why do you have a cat bed?"

"That's for me to know and never tell you."

John was about to press on the subject more, but Sherlock had already vanished into his room.

Sherlock walked over to his closet and opened it, finding the cat bed he was looking for. He took it out and remembered that he might've kept some dried bugs in his bedside drawer. He went to the drawer, and opened it.

He didn't notice the green specks on his leg float down and land onto the carpet, glowing menacingly.

**The End... or is it?**

* * *

**Author's Notes: So, that's the end of the story. Thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, and favorited. I hope to write a sequel to this soon. Bye!**

**P.S. The pistol-like injector that The Doctor used is supposed to be the one that he uses from the episode 'Day of the Moon'.**


End file.
